Marrying the Victor
by wolfgirl948
Summary: "You could've saved my sister!" Cato shook his head. "You know I tried." "It was pathetic. You're pathetic. I don't know why my parents chose for me to marry you!" "They didn't make that choice. I chose to marry you," he replied.
1. Chapter 1

"Clove," her mother said softly. "Your father and I need to tell you something."

Clove Fields nodded.

"You know how the Games have just ended," her father began.

She nodded again. The 74th Hunger Games had been brutal, but District Two had yet another win.

Her sister had died. She hated them all.

"Your mother and I feel like we cannot support you anymore, after Marina's death, so we have arranged for you to marry the Victor."

Clove flinched. "Marry the Victor? That big, brutal, bloody man?" she snarled.

Her parents exchanged glances.

"Clove, it would be better for you if you had someone who could support you," her father croaked.

She scowled, her delicate features morphing into a rough, savage expression. "What if I refuse to marry him?"

"You will not refuse," her mother replied simply.

"I'm refusing right now!" and with that, she turned and ran up the stairs to her room.

"Marry the Victor," she huffed, slipping on her combat boots. "Please."

Grabbing a handful of her precious knives, Clove stomped down the stairs and out the door before anyone could stop her.

She treaded along the gravel path leading from her neighborhood to the Training Center.

"Aye, Clove!" Jackson Bailey called from his forge. "Am I gonna be invited to your wedding?"

Clove scowled ferociously. "No!"

She continued making her way to the Center and finally stepped through the doors, cold air blasting around her body. The heat had been sweltering outside.

"Clover!"

Clove turned and saw one of her age-mates from her class making her way toward her.

"Kellie." Clove dipped her head.

"Heard 'bout your wedding," Kellie commented seriously, her blue eyes boring into Clove.

She shrugged. "It won't be happening." And she walked away to the moving body targets.

With her mind preoccupied, she didn't throw incredibly well, but she still made most of them.

"Nice throwing, pipsqueak," a low, husky voice said from behind her.

Clove turned and ground her teeth. "What do you want with me?"

Cato Washington smirked. "Nothing, I was just watching you throw. Nice aim."

Clove rolled her eyes. "I know."

The boy of seventeen laughed. "You are too adorable."

The girl of fifteen bit her tongue.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save her," Cato murmured.

Clove sneered. "Don't talk about her!"

Cato started. No one ever talked to him like that.

"I don't want to talk about her, I don't want anyone else to talk about her, and I don't walk to hear anything about her!" Clove carried on.

Cato sighed, scratching the back of his head. What was he supposed to do? "Look, Clove, I'm sorry, okay? I tried all that I could."

Clove huffed, crossed her arms, and turned the other direction.

"Be in a better mood in two days," Cato commanded, giving up being nice.

"I don't know why my parents had to choose you for me to marry," she growled viciously.

"They didn't. I chose _you_."

**So, Clove gets to marry Cato! I am so jealous of her :/ but Clato is amazing! Anyway, R&R please! **

**If you guys have any questions or suggestions, feel free review them in!**


	2. Chapter 2

Guest #1**: I think there will be some explaining about your first question later on… Her parents do think that she's a bit young at fifteen, but they think that her marrying Cato will be best for her. Of course they were hoping that Marina would survive- she's their daughter- but she didn't, and Cato did. Clove's parent's want the best for her and they think that they won't be able to support her as well as Cato can.**

Cecedancelover**: I'm pretty sure it'll be a story…**

Clove sniffles and wipes her tears. _Pathetic_, she tells herself. _You're absolutely pathetic._

Why did Marina have to die?

_Because your goddamn fiancée couldn't save her. _

"Clove!" her mother called from downstairs. "Come here!"

Clove snarled and stomped downstairs, aggravated. "What?"

"We're going to get your dress," her mother replied excitedly, as though it was her own wedding.

Her remaining daughter sighed. "Fine, let's just get this over with."

Reaching the wedding dress shop in District 2, Clove's mother turned on her.

"I want you to act properly and behave, Clove. Do you understand?"

"Yes!" Clove snapped and pushed past her mother and into the shop.

"Samuel!"

A short, stout man with kind brown eyes and a bald head waddled into the front room.

"Ah, Clove, darling!" Samuel held his arms out and hugged Clove, despite the obvious fact that she immediately hated him.

"We're here-"

"Yes, yes, my darlings, for Clove's wedding dress!" Samuel announced.

Clove rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Just find me a dress," she growled impatiently.

Samuel smiled and raised a finger. "I have the perfect dress for you, darling!" And he fast-waddled back behind some draping velvet curtains.

Sighing, Clove looked around. The shop was filled with long dresses, short dresses, colored dresses, plain dresses, fancy dresses, and sort of dress.

_It's like a District 1 shop_, she though, sneering.

Samuel came back out with a poofing, ruffly, feathery dress in his arms.

Clove widened her eyes and her nose wrinkled in distaste.

"Try it on, dear," her mother encouraged.

Clove snatched the dress from Samuel and trudged angrily to the dressing rooms.

"Such a sweet girl," she heard Samuel comment cheerily as she left.

Stupid, blathering idiot.

Clove took off her clothes and slipped the wedding dress on. Feathers poked out at weird angles and the fabric looked horrible.

As she walked out, her mother and Samuel stood up in shock.

"It's darling!" Samuel cried.

"It's _ghastly_!" Clove's mother wailed.

"There is that we can agree on, Mother," Clove muttered. She looked around and spotted a dress- one that stood out from all the others. "What about that one?" she pointed. It looked her size…

The adults looked over at it.

"It's gorgeous, darlings!" Samuel smiled.

"It's expensive," her mother said, looking sullenly at the price tag. She perked up. "But if you like it, then I'll buy it. It's also your size."

Clove grinned and grabbed the dress from the rack, taking it to the dressing room.

She shoved off the first dress and put on the second. It was strapless, with a beautiful beaded top; a satin sash twirled around her slim waist and layered taffeta waterfalled to the carpet.

And for once, Clove felt beautiful.

She stepped out and shyly showed the others.

"Clove!" her mother started choking up.

"It's amazing, darling!" Samuel cheered.

"We'll take it."

Clove watched as a worker folded her dress and Samuel rang up the bill.

The two women headed for a coffee shop down the street.

"Two coffees and one blueberry scone," her mother told the barista, and they waited.

"Thank you, Mother," Clove whispered.

The older woman smiled warmly. "You're welcome," she whispered back.

They received their coffee and scone and headed back outside.

"You need shoes," Clove's mother decided.

Clove scowled as she followed her mother into a fancy shoe shop.

The fifteen-year-old girl scanned the silver shoes, deciding that would be the best color with her dress.

"Mother," she called. "What about these?"

Clove held up a pair of sparkly silver sandals, the heel five inches tall and clear diamond rhinestones adorning the straps that twisted around her feet.

Her mother nodded approvingly and they were bought.

"We have to see how to do your hair," her mother decided as they walked out of the shoe store.

Clove sighed. "Why don't we just go home?"

"We can't," her mother scolded. "We must do this first."

The young bride rolled her eyes. _Insistent mothers_, she thought sourly.

They strolled to the hair shop and Castol greeted them.

"Come to find out what to do for your hair for your wedding, Clove?" he boomed.

She nodded. "Yeah."

Her mother shot her a warning look.

Castol smiled and turned her to face a mirror. "What do you want?"

"An updo," her mother said quickly. "Some braids and flowers, too."

The hair designer nodded, and stroked her chin thoughtfully. "We can do that."

Castol brushed her hair and sprayed it with water.

"I have an idea."

Fifteen minutes later, Clove opened her eyes to see herself.

There were two small French braids along each side of her head and the rest of her hair was tucked underneath her other hair. Three delicate white roses adorned it all.

"It's gorgeous," she breathed, fascinated.

"Thank you, Castol. If you could just do her hair around 9 A.M. on Saturday, that would be great," her mother told him.

Castol nodded. "Good luck, Clove."

"Thanks."

Clove went upstairs to her room and found a small package on her desk.

**To: Clove**

**From: Cato**

She ripped open the package and what was inside took her breath away.

Clove pinched the ring between her thumb and index finger and held it up.

It was a beautiful silvery color, with a big diamond sitting in the center of a circle, with four smaller diamonds on the top and four on the bottom.

A paper was folded inside the box; Clove unfolded it and read.

_Remember that I chose you, Clover._

**Hey! So the first wedding dress is supposed to be kind of like that really ugly one from **_**Bridesmaids**_**. Love that movie :) Anyway, if you're wondering about the hairstyle, visit **Bebexo **on YouTube. It's the Holiday Hair Tutorial. I couldn't explain the look very well… Check out her other tutorials, too. She's amazing.**

**This is the ring address: **

**This is the shoe address: ** files/2011/03/12/4/1261/12614315/efd7e2fd89e959e0_Evening_shoes_500-20_ 

**And this is the second dress address: ** files/3f39qXY3AtQI*ioUa*XHoNesa8I50* 

**Read and review please! Thanks :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys, thanks for the great reviews :) You guys are amazing; thanks so much!**

Guest #1: **I will try, but I can't guarantee anything :( sorry**

AliceW: **Check for the next chapter and hopefully you'll think it explains everything**

Clove blinked open her eyes. It was Saturday. Her wedding day. Gross. **(A. /N. I decided to skip Friday because I'm a very impatient person and I couldn't wait to write this part.)**

She rolled out of bed and felt for her ring on her left hand. She had decided to start wearing it, to practice the feeling.

"Clove! Get dressed and come have breakfast!"

Clove snorted and slipped on some shorts and a t-shirt and stomped down the stairs into the kitchen.

"Eat up!" Her mother was ecstatic. "But not too fast."

"Shove it in your ass," Clove snarled under her breath before heading toward the door.

"Young lady, where do you think you're going?" Clove's mother narrowed her icy green eyes.

"Out," Clove growled. "Just let me be free for the last time in my life."

"Be back by eight-thirty!" her mother called as Clove slammed the door behind her.

Clove headed towards the Training Center; she had slipped some of her knives into her shorts. She could feel the blades poking her skin.

"Clover!" Cato came jogging over. "Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Ready for what?" Clove could play stupid.

"For our wedding," Cato said, a little confused.

"I don't want to," Clove replied stubbornly. "You can't make me."

Cato snorted amusedly, keeping pace with his very-soon-to-be-wife. "How much do you wanna bet, baby?"

"You can't make me," she repeated, not noticing what he had called her.

"Yeah, right." Cato picked her up around her tiny waist and flopped her over his shoulder.

"Cato!" she screamed, pounding on his back fiercely.

"Go a little easy on my back," he grunted as they jog back to Clove's home.

"Let me go, you bastard!" Clove struggles as she tries to get one of her knives from her shorts. Finally, she succeeds and presses it against his neck.

Cato stops as the cold, sharp point sears his skin.

"Put me down, Cato Reiner," Clove commands.

He loosens his grip on her and Clove takes the knife away from his neck.

"Nope!" Cato grabs the knife, holds both of Clove's hands together, and continues on his way to Clove's house.

"Fuck you, Cato!" Clove bites Cato's arms as hard as she can.

"I've survived worse, Clover. That won't do anything."

"I'm not sharing a room with you," Clove hissed, struggling to free her hands.

"Okay. I wasn't planning on it until you felt comfortable with me," Cato said, not the least bit offended.

The girl over his shoulder stopped struggling once she heard this. "Really?"

"Yeah. I can be nice when I want to, you know."

Clove snorted. "Uh huh."

"I can!" Cato protested, and turned left.

"Where are we going? My house is the other way!" Clove smacked Cato's back.

"You didn't want to go home, so I'm taking you somewhere else."

"I want to go home, Cato!"

"Too bad, Clover." Cato smirked.

The two of them walked-well, Cato walked-through a glade of trees and stopped beside a small creek.

After Cato put her down, Clove looked around. Cato didn't seem to be ready to catch her if she started running, but Clove didn't doubt that he wouldn't.

"I come here a lot," Cato said finally, watching the water flow by. "It reminds me of my brother."

Clove cocked her head curiously. Cato never talked about his family. "Why is that?" she asked.

Cato continues to stare at the creek. "We would come here and play in the water when we were younger," he replied. "He wouldn't mind if I threw rocks at him, or splashed him. He would always laugh.

"And then he was reaped," Cato went on. Clove was dead silent. "And everyone thought he would win; until that District Four boy found him."

Clove thought back to the 67th Hunger Games. Cato's brother had been reaped along with a sixteen-year-old girl.

In the end, it had come down between Cato's brother, Finnick Odair from District Four, and a girl from District Two.

And Finnick Odair won the 67th Hunger Games.

"Going away from everyone helps me think," Clove whispered. Cato looked at her. "The only things that listen to me are my knives." She stroked a small, thin dagger with a wicked sharp blade affectionately.

Cato sat down on a boulder and patted next to him. Clove walked over and sat cautiously.

"C'mon, Clover, I'm not gonna bite." Cato gave her a grin and then turned his head to look at the water again.

"Is that why you tortured those District Four tributes?" Clove asked, twirling her knife.

Cato nodded. "I just felt like it would be enough to get back on Finnick, but it wasn't."

"It won't ever be enough," Clove whispered softly, hoping he wouldn't hear.

He did though, but said nothing. _She's right; it won't ever be enough._

**Review please! :) You guys are awesome**


	4. Chapter 4

**Liz****: Here it is :)**

**CatoAndCloveMeantToBe****: Thank you! I don't know which story you bookmarked (I'm guessing it might have been my other Clato fanfic) and I definitely have an idea for a sequel, but I think that your idea could be a sequel to that maybe… **

**Guest****: I know, I'm really sorry. I'll try as best as I can, I can't guarantee anything :( Sorry**

**AliceW****: The message you asked about will be in either the next chapter or the one after that.**

….

A knock sounded on Clove's door. "Can I come in?"

Her mother gasped. "Oh, it's Cato!"

Clove scowled. "No, you can't!"

Cato laughed and asked, "And why not?"

"It's bad luck to see the bride in her dress before her wedding, sir," one of Clove's maids said through the door.

There was a moment of hesitation before a dissatisfied grunt and footsteps sounding away.

"Nice." Clove smirked and turned back to her reflection in the mirror.

"We're all ready!" Emilia, Clove's mother's assistant, popped her head through the door.

"Thank you, Emilia."

Emilia disappeared and Clove's maids were all shooed away.

"Clove," her mother began. "You are no longer a girl. You are a young lady and you will act like one."

"Yes, Mother."

"You will take responsibly of the house and children-"

"Children?" Clove shrieked. "Mother, you've got to be joking!"

"No, Clove, I am not," she replied calmly.

"I'm fifteen!"

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not having any children," Clove snarling, scowling. "Never."

"We'll see." Her mother narrowed her cold, flashing eyes.

…...

The bride peeked through a crack in the doors and scanned the room. It was packed; she couldn't believe all these people came to see her get-ugh!-married.

"Are you ready, miss?" Ansa, Clove's favorite maid, came up behind her.

Clove nodded, took a deep breath, and thought, _You're just getting married, Clove. No big deal._

But it was, even if she wasn't going to like it.

The old man who owned the music shop in town started playing the organ and Clove's father walked up, looking uncomfortable in his suit.

"Clove, honey, you look beautiful," he whispered as the doors opened; Clove could see tears threatening to spill.

"Thanks, Daddy," she whispered back; she too, could feel tears prickling her eyes.

Her father led her down the aisle as the entire group of guests rose. Cato and the priest were waiting up in front of everyone.

Clove held in a snigger when she saw Cato's expression. His eyes were bugging out of his head and his mouth hit the ground.

It was quite sweet, unless he was actually looking at her dad. Then that would be quite creepy.

Clove stepped forward and took Cato's outstretched hand.

"We are gathered here today, for the wedding of Clove Fields and Cato Reiner," the priest started.

"Cato, do you promise to love and cherish Clove forever?" the priest looked expectantly at the groom.

Cato nodded. "I do," he replied strongly.

"And Clove-" the priest turned to her-"do you promise to love and cherish Cato forever?"

Without thinking, Clove said immediately, "I do."

"You may kiss the bride." The priest closed his bible and Cato drew his new bride close.

Clove's stomach churned and Cato face grew closer. They had never kissed before.

After what seemed like lifetimes, Cato's lips pressed against hers, gently, like he was afraid.

_He's not too bad, _she thought reluctantly.

Cheers broke out and Cato pulled away.

He winked and she shivered, partly from what had just happened and partly from the lightning shock she received that was coursing through her body.

…...

**Yay! They're finally married! :) Sorry about the whole wedding speech; I thought you guys would find it sorta boring and I don't even know all of it, so I just went with what I wrote. Thanks for the beautiful reviews I got and don't forget to review again! **


	5. Chapter 5

**iloveclato345: ****You're wrong. Well, partly wrong. Clove isn't going to get pregnant right now. Honestly, I seriously think that she's too young. Way too young, but if people want kids then, it's their choice. Anyway, she will not get pregnant. Maybe when she's 25 or something.**

**Emma****: Thank you! :) And I know, I don't like those stories either…**

**AliceW****: Clove's mother just wants her to start being responsible and acting like an adult. And you're right; her mother can't make her decisions for her now. We will definitely hear about President Snow later on… **

**Thank you all who reviewed!**

…

Clove sat next to her new husband, fiddling with her glass.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, so no one would hear. She nodded.

Normally, District Two weddings would have a week of celebrations, but Clove and Cato had refused.

"If she's not okay with it, then I'm not okay with it," Cato had told their parents.

Clove was shocked that he had said that, but didn't argue. She didn't want a big, festive, noisy party. The getting-married part was stressful enough.

"I want to go home, Cato," she whispered.

He nodded and stood up, offering Clove his hand, which she took.

Cato tensed slightly as a bolt of electricity ran through his body when Clove touched him.

They walked through the doors leading out of the dining hall in the church.

The walk to the Victors Village was silent. Cato gazed into the distance as Clove looked at her feet the whole time.

Reaching Cato's large home, they opened the door and walked inside.

"I'll show you your room," Cato said, and lead Clove down the hall.

She didn't look up from the ground as he led her to a very spacious room, with robin's egg-colored walls and a lush, white carpet covering the ground. A big bed was in a corner and a glass door led out to what looked like some chairs under a covering. The closet was across from the bed and the bathroom in a different corner.

"It's beautiful," she breathed, taking it all in.

"Yeah," Cato agreed, looking at her. "It is."

Clove looked up at him and smiled.

_God, you're gorgeous_, Cato thought.

"Thank you so much, Cato."

He shrugged and smiled back. "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to sit and talk with me later…"

She nodded. "Just let me get on my pajamas."

Cato grinned and walked away to his own room.

Clove walked over to her closet. Her father had dropped off all of her belongings earlier before her wedding and everything was in place. She hadn't even noticed anything of hers when she walked in.

She riffled through the hangers until she found some black shorts and a white t-shirt.

After slipping them on, she opened her bedroom door and walked into the hall.

The door she was passing opened and out stepped Cato in a loose black shirt and a pair of tan shorts.

"C'mon, I'll have Elisa make some hot chocolate." Cato led the way to a big kitchen, where a short, stout lady was bustling around.

"It's a mess in here," she scolded Cato.

He laughed. "My bad, Elisa."

His maid then noticed Clove; she started squealing, though she must have been at least in her seventies.

"Elisa, this is Clove; Clove, Elisa," Cato introduced.

Elisa smiled, causing deeper wrinkles lining her kind face. "Welcome, miss."

"Please, just call me Clove." Clove smiled at the old lady.

"Will you make two cups of hot chocolate, Elisa?" Cato asked, taking Clove's hand.

The old woman nodded, grinning when she spotted their hands, and started bustling around the kitchen again.

Clove blushed when she felt Cato's hand slip into hers, but said nothing. It felt nice.

He directed her to a different room; there was a small coffee table and little puffy cushions surrounding it. A blazing fireplace with an elk head over it roared.

"Don't worry," Cato assured Clove when she glanced at it, horrified. "It's fake."

Elisa waddled in, set the mugs of steaming chocolate down, and waddled back out.

"So," Clove said, adjusting a pillow as she and Cato sat down. "Why did you choose me?"

Cato looked at her. "You caught my eye," he admitted. "You're the best knife-thrower in District Two. Hell, Clove, you're the best in Panem!"

Clove took a sip of hot chocolate and started at Cato. "Is that why you chose me? The only reason?"

Cato shook his head. "You don't act like other girls, Clove. You ignored everyone around you; you only trained for the Hunger Games. And there is no way in hell that I am letting you go in there."

…...

**Aw! :) He wants her to stay with him 3 Anyway, review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, I know I haven't updated in a long time, but, as you can see, I have decided that this story is to be complete. **

**Don't worry, it's not the end. There will be a sequel, so don't freak. I just couldn't wait.**

**It might, might not, be posted today. Just look forward to it.**

**Thank you all so much for reviewing. It meant so much to me.**


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